Further update on Friday’s odor issue

Feb 23, 2015

Shell Puget Sound Refinery resolved to make sure an odor issue like this does not happen again.

On Friday February 20th the Shell Puget Sound Refinery experienced a problem while doing maintenance work on the east flare, which resulted in an odor issue for some of our neighbors to the south of the refinery. First and foremost we would like to apologize again to our neighbors for the odor and also thank those who contacted us.

Upon being made aware of the odor, refinery personnel immediately responded to identify the source of the odor, and the maintenance activity was suspended. Based on our own air monitoring, and the air monitoring of an independent third party contractor which concluded Sunday afternoon, no detectable levels of harmful compounds were found.

The odor was a result of non-detectable levels of sulfur-based compounds. While we are pleased that the results of this testing, we are mindful of the fact that the odor was strong and unsettling to some of our neighbors. We aim to operate the refinery in a way that does not impact the community, and the calls and reports we received Friday tell us that in this case we fell short of that goal.

The refinery has established a regular hotline for community inquiries, and we encourage people who have any questions, comments, or complaints related to Friday’s odor issue to call. 360-293-1797. If a community member is interested in filing a claim for this particular odor issue, they may call 855-276-0771.

Again, we would like to apologize to our neighbors for this odor incident. We know that our license to operate comes from the community, and we are resolved to make sure an odor issue like this does not happen again.